


Losin’ My Soul

by Pocket_Sasaki



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Angst, Gen, Ghost!Arthur au, Vivi gets to be a little mean as a treat, and I didn’t write it with any in mind, not tagging any ships because it can be any ships you want to interpret, or at least it will be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28722363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pocket_Sasaki/pseuds/Pocket_Sasaki
Summary: A sort of alternate ending to the Future. Shiromori is vanquished and ??? wasn’t able to cause any trouble (at least, not yet), and Vivi and Mystery have emerged mostly unscathed. However, someone didn’t survive the encounter.
Relationships: Arthur & Lewis (Mystery Skulls Animated), Lewis & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated), Mystery & Vivi (Mystery Skulls Animated)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 52





	1. Erase Me

“Arthur!” Vivi cries when she spots the mechanical arm sticking out from under a piece of broken truck. She rushes over and quickly moves the chunk of metal with little difficulty, only to drop to her knees at the sight that greets her.    
  
Arthur is lying there, broken and burnt and utterly lifeless. His eyes are closed… he looks almost peaceful.    
  
“Arthur? Arthur, please- please wake up-” Vivi’s voice breaks as she lifts him gently into her arms. Tears are streaming down her face. Arthur isn’t breathing.    
  
Mystery stands behind her, his head and tails hung low. He wants nothing more than to sit by her, to nuzzle his face into her hand and offer her comfort as best as he can. But he gets the feeling she wouldn’t appreciate his presence; not now, and maybe not anytime soon. He has a lot of explaining to do. 

Vivi pulls Arthur close to her in something like a hug as she sobs. “Arthur-” her voice is quiet, broken and pleading. She  _ can’t  _ lose Arthur, he and Mystery were all she had. Without him, she doesn’t know what she’s going to do. She  _ needs _ him, and now he’s-

Her thoughts grind to an abrupt halt as she feels a warm presence close to her. She doesn’t even need to look up to see who it is-- she can see the pink glow from his hair. It’s that ghost from the mansion, who apparently decided that terrorizing them there wasn’t enough and he had to  _ chase _ them. Had to chase  _ Arthur _ , more specifically   
  
_ The burns on Arthur’s body…  _

“Stay away from us.” Vivi growls, her voice low and hostile. She only looks up to glare at him when he seems hesitant to step back. He looks confused, and almost… remorseful? His crystal heart is cracked and grey, and there are black tears in his eyes. What does he have to be sad about? He seems to have gotten what he wanted. 

The ghost steps back after a moment, curling in on himself. It’s strange how much his body language has changed from the confident stance of someone who knows exactly what they want and is going to stop at nothing to get it, to… this. He looks  _ guilty _ . This only further confirms what Vivi is already sure of.    
  
“ _ You _ did this, didn’t you?” She hisses at the ghost.    
  
His eyes widen in realization, and he shakes his head quickly.    
  
“What reason do I have to believe you?” Vivi snaps, causing him to shrink back further. “You seemed so eager to kill him before! He’s  _ covered _ in burns!”    
  
“No, I- I made a mistake, he wasn’t who I thought he was! Yes I was trying, but it wasn’t what I really wanted, and I  _ didn’t kill him! _ ” The ghost says. This is the first time Vivi has heard his voice. It’s almost familiar. “Please, just let me explain.” 

Vivi narrows her eyes, but doesn’t say anything. She’ll let him plead his innocence, if only because she’s sure it’s what Arthur would want.

The ghost seems to pick up on this, and he takes a tentative step forward. He cups a hand gently around his heart, and begins to hold it out to her. “Please… open the locket. It’ll help, I promise.” He holds it out to her in silence for a moment. “It will be easier for me to explain once you remember me. Please take it.” He pleads when she makes no move to take it. 

Remember…? Oh.  _ Oh. _

“It’s you, isn’t it? The missing friend that everyone says I’m supposed to remember.” Vivi says, her voice not portraying any emotion at all. The ghost perks up, and nods. 

The two of them stare at each other for a moment. Then she reaches out and pushes his hand and his heart away.    
  
“Keep your locket. I know more than enough about you.” Vivi hisses.   
  
The ghost seems bewildered. He looks torn between putting the heart back in its place and trying to offer it to her again. “Vivi, please I- I  _ need _ you to take it.” 

“I don’t think you do!” Vivi retorts. “Arthur has been looking for you for a  _ year _ now! He was  _ killing _ himself just to try to find you! He wasn’t sleeping, he hardly ever ate enough- he would wake up crying for  _ months  _ because he had nightmares about something terrible happening to you!” 

The ghost curls in on himself again, his eyes wide in something like horror. The black tears are back. Vivi isn’t done.   
  
“When he talked about you-- back when he still tried to help me remember --he would always have this  _ energy _ to him. A look in his eyes and a tone in his voice and I could tell how much you meant to him. Sure I was his friend, but you were his  _ best friend _ . There was a hole you left behind when you vanished that I could never fill no matter how hard I tried.” She pauses for breath. “I tried so hard to remember you for him, even if I was fine with it just being the three of us. I could never hold onto any details about you for more than a minute or two, but there were times I was so tempted to just-  _ fake it! _ Pretend I could remember you just so I could see him smile for a little while longer.” Her voice is breaking again, but she fights against the tears to choke the words out.    
  
The ghost is crying now.    
  
“He was prepared to go to the ends of the earth to find you, and I was prepared to follow him because it was what he wanted. Because I wanted to bring his smile back, and finding you was the best way to do it. He  _ loved  _ you.”   
  
The ghost freezes, and there’s a quiet sound like shattering glass. The heart, which was already so cracked and faded, now looks like it could shatter at any moment. Vivi only catches a brief glimpse of it before the ghost covers it protectively with his hands… he looks like he’s in pain.    
  
“Did he know why you wanted to kill him? Did you  _ at least _ give him that?” Vivi demands. 

The ghost doesn’t respond. He won’t meet her eyes anymore, black tears streaming down his skull as he stares at the ground. That tells her all she needed to know.   
  
“I hope he didn’t recognize you. Knowing you wanted him dead… if you didn’t kill him, that would.” 

There’s a tense moment of silence. Then the ghost looks up to meet her eyes.    
  
“I… I understand. I’ll go… I’ll leave you alone and you won’t have to think about me or see me again.” He says quietly. His voice is heavy with grief. “I’m so sorry.” 

He casts a glance at Mystery, then turns, and starts to walk away. 

  
  



	2. Back to Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Would you call my name? Would you call it twice?  
> Would you call it three times? Must have been another thousand times  
> You made me real  
> No sign is left  
> Your love and hope for me has cheated death and brought me back

Being dead isn’t at all like Arthur expected it to be. He expected cold, empty darkness, stretching on into eternity. But this is almost the exact opposite of that. This is light and color and sound, pulsing in time with  _ something _ in his chest that definitely isn’t a heartbeat but certainly  _ feels  _ like one. 

It’s odd. He’s upset- no, absolutely  _ crushed _ by his own death, but he’s not panicking. He’s overcome by a feeling of calm, and warmth. He supposes this isn’t so bad. Better than a few of the possible afterlives he had considered he might end up in.

He is a bit confused, though. Does he just… stay here forever? Or will he eventually just fade away into nothingness? 

Maybe this is some kind of limbo. If that’s what it is, it’s pretty nice for what is essentially a cosmic waiting room.

It’s actually one of the nicer waiting rooms he’s been in. But maybe that’s just because it doesn’t have the sterility of a hospital waiting room or the cramped atmosphere the waiting room outside his therapist’s office had. 

So maybe he should just… wait.

And that’s what he does. 

He waits for… well, he’s not quite sure how long, but it feels like a while. Does time even work properly here? It doesn’t really matter anyway, but it would be interesting to know, not that he could really share the knowledge with anyone-

Gah! Focus, Arthur!  _ Something is happening _ .

It was faint at first, but now it’s getting louder. A voice… Vivi? It sounds like Vivi. 

“Arthur please-” The tone of her voice is like a blow straight to his chest. He turns around, trying to see where her voice is coming from. 

“Please wake up-” He finds the source, a single patch of blue light amongst the orange and yellow. She’s right there, but at the same time she’s so far away. Separated from him by something that is so much more than just distance.    
  
He’s not sure what compels him to do so, but Arthur reaches out toward her. Something in his mind is pushing him to, pushing him to try to get to her. But this place, whatever it is, resists him. It pushes back at him, and for the first time since he showed up he feels a twinge of panic. He can’t stay here, Vivi needs him! 

…Maybe that’s not true. She has Mystery, and now, Lewis. 

But  _ he  _ needs her. He needs all of them. And he feels like he’s earned the right to be a bit selfish.

The blue light gets brighter and brighter until it has consumed his vision. It brings with it something that feels like a cold breeze, like snow blowing in his face…  _ he’s only seen snow twice in his life, when he was really young. Back before uncle Lance took custody of him. He hardly remembers what it feels like, so why is he so sure that’s what this is? _

The pounding in his chest has gotten harder, and the rhythm of the vague music around him has gotten louder in his ears. He keeps pushing, even as it gets almost deafening and he feels like his chest is going to break and it feels like there’s electricity running through all of his limbs. He keeps reaching out, until-  
  


Everything goes white. 

* * *

Vivi isn’t sure how long she sits there sobbing. Long enough for the ghost to vanish. Long enough for Mystery to work up the nerve to walk over and sit with her. He wraps his tails around her and Arthur protectively, and lets out a slight whine as he nuzzles his head into her shoulder. She doesn’t have the energy to push him away… and she doesn’t really want to. She may be mad at him, but right now, they only have each other. And even with everything, she still loves him, and she gets the feeling it’s mutual. 

She leans into Mystery a little bit, bringing a hand up to pet his head. She doesn’t know if he actually enjoys it… being treated like a dog, since he’s  _ clearly _ not one. But he doesn’t pull away, so she keeps petting him. 

“He didn’t deserve this.” Vivi mumbles, looking down at the body in her lap. 

“None of you deserved any of what happened to you.” Mystery replies quietly, his voice heavy with regret and sorrow. 

Disregarding the fact that it’s odd for him to be speaking at all, Mystery’s voice is… strange. It’s not what you’d expect from him, but somehow, it fits him perfectly. 

“...is there anything you can do? Anything at all?”   
  
“Only the most powerful magic, or a divine blessing, can truly bring back the dead.” He lowers his head. “Kistune are powerful, but resurrection is outside of our ability. I’m sorry.” 

Vivi chokes back a silent sob, and turns slightly so she can bury her face in Mystery’s fur. The two of them sit like that for a few minutes, taking comfort in each other’s presence. 

It’s only when she feels Mystery tense that Vivi pulls away. His eyes are wide and unreadable, and he’s staring down at Arthur. She follows his gaze and… Arthur’s chest is  _ glowing _ . The area where his heart is is pulsing with golden light in a steady rhythm. His metal arm is twitching slightly, sparks faintly dancing along its surface.   
  


“What’s going- woah!” Vivi cuts off as Mystery abruptly pulls her away from Arthur by the back of her sweater. The kitsune pulls her several feet away, and stands above her. His stance is protective, but not aggressive. 

She doesn’t understand why, for a moment. Then a huge bolt of lightning strikes Arthur’s body. Mystery flinches, and Vivi doesn’t understand what’s going on or how she’s supposed to even respond to this! The sky is totally clear, where did it even  _ come from _ ??   
  


Her eyes are drawn to something floating above Arthur… it’s a heart, smooth and shiny just like the other ghost’s. Though this one is much brighter, more colorful, than most of the times she saw the other. It’s a bright blue color at the center, that fades to a pinkish-purple color around the outside… like the other ghost’s hair. It’s beating steadily, though fast. 

Hope swells in Vivi’s heart.  _ Is he- _

Her question is answered before she can even finish thinking it. A familiar silhouette forms behind the heart, and then there’s a flash of light. 

When Vivi blinks, there’s a ghostly version of her friend sitting on the ground next to his own body. He’s got the same sort of detached skull as the other ghost, but that’s where the similarities end. His spiky hair is glowing bright yellow(of course) and the black… cowlicks? Is that what they would be called? Whatever they are, they’re shaped like lightning bolts. He still only has one arm… though she supposes he doesn’t really have any, since his right arm is made up only by a floating skeletal hand. You’d think the ghost of an amputee would have their missing limb back, but apparently not? 

One of the most interesting things though, is the little splashes of green on him. There are green sparks coming out of his left sleeve, and he has a green streak in his hair. Both of them are on the same side as his green eye… is there something significant about his eye being green? It was like that when he was alive but…  _ was it always like that?  _

Whatever, it doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is that he’s  _ here _ . Maybe not alive, but he’s back, he’s here. Tears are welling in her eyes again, but this time, they’re tears of joy and relief. 

“Arthur!” Vivi cries.

“Vivi?” Arthur looks up at her, startled and confused but also  _ happy _ . She can hear it in his voice, and it’s the best thing she’s ever heard. 

She starts to move, ignoring the words of caution Mystery had begun to say. She doesn’t care about anything right now other than holding Arthur in her arms and never letting go. 

* * *

Waking up is almost frightening. Sudden, bright, and loud. It’s kind of like what Arthur imagines getting struck by lightning would be like. Bright and hot and painful for a moment, but then it leaves your entire body feeling numb and heavy. 

His vision is blurry when he first opens his eyes. Just vague shapes and colors that are all mish-mashed together and he can’t tell what’s what. He sees a lot of brown and grey, and a flash of white, red, and blue. 

He only becomes aware that he was weightless for a moment when he suddenly  _ stops _ being, and falls heavily to the ground. It doesn’t hurt very much, certainly not as much as it should. He blinks, trying to clear his vision. He feels strange.

After a moment, his vision comes into focus, and he looks down at himself. There’s a brief moment of alarm before he remembers.

_ He’s dead _ .

He starts taking a moment to get a look at the parts of himself that he can see. It’s a very strange thing, being able to see the outline of your own ribcage glowing through your shirt, but it’s also sort of neat at the same time. 

_ Wait, he- _

Arthur’s heart sinks as he realizes he still only has one… hand. Why… why wouldn’t he have two? Was it really so thoroughly removed that it’s just-  _ completely gone _ ? Forever? It feels like  _ something  _ is stuck in his shoulder, but it sure as hell isn’t an arm! What is-

All it takes is a single glimpse of something green for him to flinch away.  _ Don’t look at that.  _

Okay, so he’s a one-armed ghost. That’s fine, he can deal with that. It’s fine! Maybe he can still use his prosthetic, assuming it wasn’t completely destroyed. 

“Arthur!” 

He’s abruptly pulled back to reality by Vivi calling his name. He snaps to attention, looking up at her. She’s got tears in her eyes, but she’s smiling. And Mystery is… 

“Vivi?” How could he have forgotten that she’s here? She’s the reason he’s back, she’s the one who called him back. 

He braces himself as she starts running toward him, though still almost gets knocked over from the force she hugs him with. He returns the embrace to the best of his ability. He’s almost glad he doesn’t have lungs anymore, because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to breathe from how tightly she’s hugging him. 

“I was so worried that you were gone-” Vivi says, her voice wavering. He can feel her shaking.

“No- no, I would never, ever leave you.” Arthur says almost immediately. He rests his head against hers.    
  
“Never-” her sentence is broken by a sniffle. “Never scare me like that again.” 

“I won’t, I promise.” He means it. “As long as you need me, I’ll be here.” 

Mystery begins to stride over, and despite everything, Arthur finds himself tense. He quickly relaxes, though, when Mystery lets out a quiet, pitiful whine. He looks so… so  _ heartbroken _ . He sits down directly behind Vivi and sort of… wraps his body and tails around the two of them. The best he can do for a hug. Arthur takes his hand off Vivi’s back to gently run it through his fur for a moment. 

“Arthur, I’m… I am so, so sorry. For everything. I know there’s no way for me to truly make up for all the harm that has come to you because of me, but… if there is anything I can do to help you adjust, please tell me… I would be honored if you’d allow me to assist.” Mystery says. It’s strange to hear him speak. 

“Well there is actually uh… there is one thing.” Arthur says after a moment of consideration. Mystery lifts his head attentively, and he can tell Vivi is listening too. “Did uh…” He sighs before he can finish the question. He almost doesn’t want to ask. 

_ Come on Arthur, spit it out.  _

“Did my arm survive?” 

Mystery turns, stepping away from Arthur and Vivi to find out the answer to this question. When he turns back around, he has the mechanical arm held gingerly in his mouth. He carefully places it in Arthur’s lap.

No…  _ no… _

“Nooooo… what happened to you…” Arthur mumbles mournfully. The arm is absolutely  _ ruined _ . Dented and scorched almost beyond recognition, and he has no doubt that the wiring is completely fried. “How could I let this happen?” 

“Arthur I think-” Vivi snickers a bit. “I think you have other things to be concerned about.” 

“I spent a  _ year _ on this!” He responds indignantly. “First the van and now this… oh, the repairs are going to be a  _ nightmare _ …”

Vivi laughs a bit, and for a moment, it almost feels natural. Like this is just… another normal day for them. 

But it’s not. It’s not going to be normal ever again, as much as he wants it to be. Especially not now that Vivi is the only member of the group that  _ isn’t  _ a spirit of some kind…

“It should be okay as long as you still have the blueprints for it, right Art?” Vivi asks, which Arthur is only vaguely aware of. “...Arthur?” She puts a hand on his shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts.

“Where’s Lewis?” Arthur blurts. 

“The.. pink ghost?”

“Yes. Where is he?” He can’t keep the desperation from creeping into his voice.

Vivi looks… shocked. And  _ guilty. _ “He left- but why do y-“

“He  _ what _ ?”

“He  _ left _ .”

Arthur grabs Vivi’s shoulder. It doesn’t have nearly as much weight with only one hand. “Where did he go??” He’s starting to panic.

“I don’t know!” His panic has already spread to Vivi.

He shoots to his feet. Something in his heart knows where he needs to go. He can find Lewis… again.

“I’m going after him! I’ll be back, I promise, just- just wait here!” Arthur says, and starts running. Faster than he ever would’ve been able to while he was alive. Fast enough that he barely hears Vivi calling out to him. 

He can’t lose Lewis again. He  _ can’t. _

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Was feeling angsty today <3 more coming soon (maybe)


End file.
